"May God give you a long life! and may
you meet your family in good health at home!"
I felt a choking sensation in saying good-bye; but we were soon on
board, and the steam was up.
The new steamer, the Khedive, took us in tow, and we travelled rapidly
down the stream towards home in old England.
Although I had written the most important letters to the Khedive and to
his minister in October 1871, I had, to my amazement, NOT RECEIVED ONE
WORD IN REPLY by the post that had arrived from Egypt. I had apparently
been looked upon as a dead man that did not require a letter. It
appeared that my existence was utterly ignored by the Egyptian
government, although I had received my letters in due course from
England.
On arrival at the Bahr Giraffe, we found that the canals which I had
formerly cut were much improved by the force of the stream. Although
these passages were narrow, they had become deep, and we progressed with
comparatively little trouble.
On 7th June, three sails were reported ahead on the horizon. We pushed
forward with some curiosity, but unfortunately a sudd of vegetable rafts
had closed the passage for a short distance, which required about an
hour to clean; this delayed the chase.
